This invention relates generally to ornamental jewelry and more particularly to body piercing jewelry having a screwless clasping mechanism.
Body piercing has its roots far into the history of mankind both to indicate rites of passage in certain cultures and its use as ornamentation. To first insert a piercing, the skin would first be pierced by a sharp object forming a bore through which a stud or other type of post can be drawn through. Ornamentation can then be suspended from the post depending upon the taste of the wearer or the norms of the culture so that the ornamentation is fixed to the post by some type of clasp or other connection apparatus.
The most common type of body piercing is the earring. The earring is primarily worn as an ornamental device in that it is visible to others when worn. Examples of clasping mechanisms used in earrings are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,195,492 to Johnson, 5,433,088 to Mahar and 4,928,367 to Seidmann.
There is growing popularity for other types of body piercings such as those associated with parts of the body not normally visible to others. These include the navel and the sexual organs such as the breast and the penis or scrotum. The desirable elements of such piercings are not so much their use as ornamentation as they are security in the clasp, the weight of the jewelry and the feeling of the jewelry against the skin. Due to the placement of the body piercingjewelry and the size of the piercing, the jewelry is typically made from surgical stainless steel.
Examples of conventional body piercingjewelry are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 shows a conventional piercing ring at 10 which is well known in the art. The piercing ring includes a circular body 12 having a notch 14 at a top end thereof. Thus, the body is somewhat crescent-shaped. A threaded bore 16 extends through one end of the notch. A spherical stop 18 includes a radially extending screw 20 which is received within bore 16.
In use, the spherical stop 18 is unscrewed from the bore 16 and the body 12 is slid through a pierced hole in the body and out the other end. The stop 18 is then screwed into the bore and the resulting piercing ring then hangs freely from the body part.
FIG. 2 shows an alternate type of piercing ring at 30 which is also well known in the art. Piercing ring 30 includes a circular body 32 having a notch 34 spanned by threaded ends 36,38 which make the body appear somewhat crescent-shaped. A pair of spherical stops 40,42 (each having an interiorly threaded bore such as bore 44) are threaded onto ends 36,38 once the ring has been slipped through the body piercing.
These types of conventional body piercing rings have several noted disadvantages within certain elements of the piercing community. First, they entail screw type mechanisms which require a circularly cross-sectioned body. Thus, as the weight of the jewelry increases, the body cross section necessarily increases until it no longer can be received through the pierced hole. A second disadvantage of using screw-type mechanisms is the time it takes to engage and disengage the stops for insertion and removal of the jewelry. Finally, insertion of the screw-type clasps can result in a deposit of dirt or other material on the screw threads thus decreasing the effectiveness of the clasp.
Accordingly, a need remains for a simplified clasping mechanism for use with body piercing jewelry.